Page:The Collected Poems of Dora Sigerson Shorter.djvu/262



What will you give me, if I will wed? “A golden gown To come sweetly down, And deck you from foot to head.”

How will you keep me, if I am cold? “By a heart so warm. The bravest storm Dare not force through my strong hands' hold.”

How will you please me, if I should thirst? “Why by the rape Of the purple grape, Which the summer and sun have nursed.”

If I should hunger what may I eat? “For you the skies The falcon flies. And the hounds on the stag are fleet.”

How can you comfort when fair youth dies, When the spirit's fain For a purer gain. Than the satisfied flesh supplies?

“But this I promise, when starved and cold A lonely soul Finds for its goal A six-foot bed and churchyard mould.”